Cameron to skip Davos WEF summit

For the first time since becoming Prime Minister, David Cameron is to miss the annual gathering of economic and political movers and shakers in Davos.

Downing Street said it had been decided not to include the World Economic Forum summit in the Swiss mountain resort in the Prime Minister's schedule for overseas travel. Mr Cameron's official spokesman declined to comment on whether the upcoming general election had played a part in the PM's decision not to leave the country.

Mr Cameron is expected to undertake regional visits and constituency engagements during the summit, which runs from January 21-24. Chancellor George Osborne will attend the gathering, which is expected to attract more than 40 top-level politicians, including French president Francois Hollande, Chinese prime minister Li Keqiang, German chancellor Angela Merkel and US secretary of state John Kerry, as well as 2,500 other leaders of business and society.

Prime Minister David Cameron will not be attended the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this month

Mr Cameron used a pre-election visit to Davos in 2010 to warn that Britain needed to restore its international reputation following the economic crash, and in 2012 delivered a major speech calling for reform in Europe. In 2013, Davos was the forum for a speech by the PM on tackling tax evasion and avoidance internationally, while last year he went to the WEF to urge the EU not to stand in the way of fracking.

Asked why he had decided not to attend this year, Mr Cameron's official spokesman told a daily Westminster media briefing: "We look at his overall schedule for overseas travel. He has just been in the US.

"As part of his travel schedule for the first half of 2015, on this occasion he is not going."

Founded in 1971 as the European Management Forum, the WEF's annual gathering in Davos has become one of the world's most prominent platforms for discussion between politicians, corporations and civil society bodies.